Press release
Syrian Opposition Coalition
Department of Media and Communications
November 15, 2023
The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) welcomes the decision by French judges to issue arrest warrants for Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad, and two other senior officials over the use of banned chemical weapons against civilians in the town of Douma and eastern Ghouta in the Damascus countryside in 2013. This move is hoped to uphold the principle of no immunity for perpetrators of war crimes.
The SOC emphasizes the importance of justice for Syrian victims by seeking accountability against the Assad regime and its symbols for their responsibility in committing hundreds of war crimes against the Syrian people. The SOC appreciates the efforts of human rights and civil society organizations in achieving justice, enforcing laws, and holding war criminals accountable for their actions against innocent civilians in Syria. The SOC stresses the necessity of bringing these cases to the International Criminal Court through a UN Security Council resolution in accordance with the United Nations Charter. This step aims to prevent countries that are parties to a specific conflict from participating in voting on draft resolutions related to that conflict. If this is not possible, then the resolution should be pursued through the United Nations General Assembly in accordance with the Union for Peace principle.
The SOC points out that the investigations conducted by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, as well as those of independent and impartial committees, have confirmed the Assad regime’s responsibility for attacks involving the use of chemical weapons on civilians in various areas of Syria, even after the issuance of UN Security Council Resolution 2118 (2013). Therefore, the UN Security Council is urged to implement Resolution 2118 regarding the repeated use of chemical weapons and to re-examine ways to enforce it. This includes considering measures in accordance with Chapter Seven of the United Nations Charter, with the ultimate goal of achieving justice for the victims in Syria.
